reverse polarity question (1 Viewer)

Welsh girl

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We have 2 electric cables and we know we need a reverse polarity cable when we tour France, can anyone tell me if this is ok to do.........
We want to take the end off one cable and reverse the wires and then effectively giving us a reverse polarity cable and one normal one, we need to buy a tester first to tell us if it is indeed reverse polarity before we use any one cable.
Hopefully someone can shed some light on this? we have been told by the help on touring for the first time that a 6 inch one will do but as we have 2 cables perhaps that will suffice?:winky:
 

gozomike

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Hi

Yes it will work fine – but mark it clearly.

You obviously will not be able to use it as an extension if you need a long lead on a site where the connections are not reversed.

Personally I would make a short reverse lead in case I needed a very long lead.

Mike
 

Heyupluv

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Hi

Yes it will work fine – but mark it clearly.

You obviously will not be able to use it as an extension if you need a long lead on a site where the connections are not reversed.

Personally I would make a short reverse lead in case I needed a very long lead.

Mike

I agree with gozomike what you have said is fine...but what a waste of a extension cable when a short purpose built connection would do .......you may need two cables in France if you are not close enough to the hook up point..( that is if the hook is polarity correct). in many cases the hook up is not at the side of your van...it could be a good distance away passing behind many other motorhomes....this is in France.

Do exactly what you have said above, but with a short cable in between anything from a 6" to 12", and the polarity tester to check with.....you may even find when you check the hook up points one may be correct polarity one may be reversed

Mel

Mel

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Welsh girl

Welsh girl

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We have bought a continental adaptor with the 2 pin plug, if we bought another end from a camping shop and reversed that one and used it as and when?
Would that work?
 

Geo

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What I'm trying to work out is what kind of technology are they using in France on their hook up post, that tells it that an Englishman is plugged in:Doh:
It seems to me that only the English are worried about reverse polarity:Doh:
So why don't it Kill the French:Cool:
Because it don't really matter do it:winky:
But if it makes you happy a short dedicated lead is the way to go, you will more often than not, need two long ones in France:thumb:and quite often here in the UK
PS you will need a two pin and three pin to be fully coverd
Geo

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Jim

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My RP lead is 6 inches long and has a UK plug attached, I just use a travel adapter for whereever we are. Most of the time in France and Spain, rather than dig this lead out, I just turn the continental plug upside down, this works more often than not:Smile:
 

Loujess

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I am a bit baffled here. We have never had a problem with reverse polarity but sometimes we need a continental adaptor like this one. Is reverse polarity really a problem? We only had 10 weeks in Europe last year and some of you will have much more experience, but everything was fine for us. ::bigsmile:::bigsmile:::bigsmile:

Ivy
 
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Welsh girl

Welsh girl

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My RP lead is 6 inches long and has a UK plug attached, I just use a travel adapter for whereever we are. Most of the time in France and Spain, rather than dig this lead out, I just turn the continental plug upside down, this works more often than not:Smile:

How do you know a 2 pin plug is upside down, you can tell with 3 pin as you cannot put it in the wrong way but with a 2 pin????
Also can I take the 2 pin adaptor off and put a uk plug on ( the blue campsite one) and just reverse the wires inside?

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John & Joan

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How do you know a 2 pin plug is upside down, you can tell with 3 pin as you cannot put it in the wrong way but with a 2 pin????
Also can I take the 2 pin adaptor off and put a uk plug on ( the blue campsite one) and just reverse the wires inside?

On my two pin continental plug the lead comes out on one side. I normally put this in the plug so the the lead points down. There is often a cut out to accommodate the lead in the socket fitting. If I get reverse polarity I turn the plug so the lead comes out at the top.

Having a Hymer it is not so important as the breakers are the continental type that break both contacts.

John
 

Geo

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Is RP a problem? only to those who take electrical equipment to bits when its still plugged in:Eeek: ie experts who understand Electrikery
95% of cables come out the bottom when plugged in, upside down and it come out the top:Doh:
If you have a plug that has no particular orientation you wont know:Doh:
 

gozomike

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As has been said many times it is not a problem for any equipment as we are talking about Alternating Current. The only issue is that the sockets we use have a single pole switch, so if this is off and the connections are reversed then the all the wiring to and back from the appliance could be live. It should not be a problem due to the insulation on the equipment but it is better to be safe and have the live switched.

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Geo

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Lets examine where this reverse polarity problem came from
Nowhere its always been there:Doh:
a few years ago Motorhome Manf started making control panels with a RP warning light and or buzzer, I never figured out why
in order to make this alarm go off, a RP lead had to be used to correct the polarity, since others were using, them every body thinks they need one:RollEyes:
In the years prior to the smart control panels no one worried or even knew they were on a RP hook up:Doh:
Even now, those that have not yet read about it go on blissfully unaware
Im not aware of anyone getting into trouble
UNLESS they have had there finger where they shouldn't with the power on,
Chances are they'd be dead anyway even if Polarity was correct:Doh:
The purist will of course argue it may/will affect the way some safety trips work, the chance of revers polarity in itself being they cause are as remote as running yourself over with your own motor home, but of course that is possible:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 

barryd

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Im no expert but I spoke to a Motorhome mechanic / technician bloke a while ago and he said not to worry about it. I bought all the cables, adaptors etc of Ebay and never used the reverse polarity one in the end. It did however also come with a LED plug tester which is a normal 3 pin plug with 3 lights on the back which shows Normal, reverse polarity and no earth. I plug this into a short piece of cable which then plugs into the EHU point. There are two reasons I use this. half the EHU points never work abroad (well in France anyway) so you can quickly go round and see which ones are live without getting your EHU cable out. More importantly you would be supprised how many come up as having no earth which I am told is dangerous.
 

Heyupluv

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As has been said many times it is not a problem for any equipment as we are talking about Alternating Current. The only issue is that the sockets we use have a single pole switch, so if this is off and the connections are reversed then the all the wiring to and back from the appliance could be live. It should not be a problem due to the insulation on the equipment but it is better to be safe and have the live switched.

Yes I agree again with gozomike ......when you use a single pole switch. and you switch off, you may think it is safe to remove the bulb ....no power.....what it means the power has by-passed the switch and it is still live through the bulb until it gets back to the switch.......but if its correct polarity the power stops at the switch first ...no power at the bulb connection......
if its a double pole, switch then both wires disconnect at the switch (switch off)..live & neutral
as many of the French switches are double pole...but like they all say YES it will work...if that makes sense to you.:Doh::winky:
if you have a free standing table light with a switch on the wire or on the light itself just unplug to isolate no problem........it is up to you
Mel:thumb:
 

scotjimland

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It did however also come with a LED plug tester which is a normal 3 pin plug with 3 lights on the back which shows Normal, reverse polarity and no earth. I plug this into a short piece of cable which then plugs into the EHU point. There are two reasons I use this. half the EHU points never work abroad (well in France anyway) so you can quickly go round and see which ones are live without getting your EHU cable out. More importantly you would be supprised how many come up as having no earth which I am told is dangerous.

Checking for an earth connection is a vital safety precaution .. :thumb:

You should always check for an earth connection by pressing the 'test' button on the earth leakage unit . If it don't trip, no earth connection.

No Earth = Don't Use.

Reverse polarity ... I think most know my view on this.. :-x

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Personally I'd make up a short reverse polarity lead with a IP plugs and socket to avoid any confusion and keep both extensions, they are far to handy:thumb:

(For mine I used blue cable so no confusion with other adaptors)

Stewart
 

hilldweller

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Perhaps we should start a thread to see if anyone has had a problem.:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
Unlikely I would guess.

Of course you won't get any replies, they're all dead, deceased, burnt to a crisp, extinct, gone to the Big Pitch in the Sky.

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Loddy

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I never bother about RP, If you are why bother making a short well marked lead up ??
it's 2 pin turn the fecking thing round or is that too technical :Doh:

Loddy

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Road Runner

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I have a foot long bit of lead with both ends on reversing the polarity. Just fix it in-line each time I need it. Save breaking open the plug on my good leads.
 
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Welsh girl

Welsh girl

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I never bother about RP, If you are why bother making a short well marked lead up ??
it's 2 pin turn the fecking thing round or is that too technical :Doh:

Loddy

It all seems to easy for you folks who have done the rounds but to us people who have never encountered anything like it and want to be safe on our tours would like a decent answer to this problem, it might have been done before but not everyone here has been here long enough to know all this and I am getting quite upset by all the flippant replies and assume that we all know what YOU all know. please be a little more patient with us all!!!!!!
Most of us join for some help on some subject or other.

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Loddy

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Sorry I wasn't trying to be flippant. I was having a go at all the wallies that make up RP leads

To be perfectly correct you should carry a circuit tester that you plug into you 3 pin socket in your motorhome ( available from DIY shops about £5) , that will tell you if you have RP or indeed a earth, then deal with what it tells you, Reverse polarity I don't worry about, it means you are switching neutral not live ( but this does not matter until you try and dismantle your hairdryer without unplugging it).
some people make up a lead in my opinion a waste of time. where you plug in is 2 pin,( not many have 3 pin plug in yet) just turn it around, No earth well lots of French Spanish Moroccan and Portuguese sites don't have none.
It's up to you what you do in this situation, I drop a earth lead to a spike from my motorhome seems to work 9 (stops the tingling)

Loddy
 

scotjimland

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Not having been on this forum as long as you have Jim, I dont know your views, can you enlighten me?

Hi
Sorry, it was probably an old thread.. searching may unearth it.

Basically, my view is the same as Geo's and the others who never check simply because there is no danger either to equipment or people, but the last time I gave my opinion on this subject was accused of giving dangerous advice.. so I now steer clear of it.

Now I've gone and broken cover :roflmto:
 

Loddy

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There are less reports of people getting electrocuted than gassed

Loddy

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